Wisconsin Energy Second Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Wisconsin Energy (NYSE:WEC) will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, August 1, 2012. Wisconsin Energy, through its subsidiaries, conducts operations mainly in utility energy. Its main subsidiaries are Wisconsin Electric, Wisconsin Gas, and We Power.

Wisconsin Energy Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for profit of 44 cents per share, a rise of 7.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from 45 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 44 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 4.6% compared to last year’s $2.28.

Past Earnings Performance: The company has beaten estimates the last four quarters and is coming off a quarter where it topped forecasts by one cent, reporting net income of 74 cents per share against a mean estimate of profit of 73 cents per share.

Stock Price Performance: Between May 1, 2012 and July 26, 2012, the stock price rose $3.84 (10.5%), from $36.68 to $40.52. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 23, 2012 and April 30, 2012, when shares rose for six straight days, increasing 3.4% (+$1.21) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 18, 2012 and July 25, 2012 when shares fell for six straight days, dropping 3.1% (-$1.30) over that span.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 1.09 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, for every dollar the company owes in the short term, it has that figure available in assets that can be converted to cash in the short term.

Analyst Ratings: There are mostly holds on the stock with eight of 13 analysts surveyed giving that rating.

Key Stats:

On the top line, the company is looking to get back on the right track after last quarter’s drop snapped a string of revenue increases. Revenue rose 11.3% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year, 8.2% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and 2.1%in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year before dropping in the first quarter.

The company enters this earnings announcement with steady profits recently. Net income has risen year-over-year average of 8% for the last four quarters.

A Look Back: In the first quarter, profit rose 0.7% to $172.1 million (74 cents a share) from $170.9 million (72 cents a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue fell 10.3% to $1.19 billion from $1.33 billion.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $988.9 million in revenue this quarter, a decline of 0.3% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $4.62 billion for the year, a rise of 2.9% from last year’s revenue of $4.49 billion.